Upright vacuum cleaner incorporating telescopic wand assembly

ABSTRACT

A floor cleaning apparatus includes a housing having a nozzle assembly and a canister assembly. The canister assembly is pivotally connected to the nozzle assembly. Both a suction generator and dirt collection vessel are carried on the housing. The apparatus also includes a telescopic wand assembly having a first end equipped with an operator handle and a second end incorporating an airstream inlet. A wand assembly coupler is provided on the housing. The wand assembly coupler receives and holds the second end of the telescopic wand assembly. A flexible hose is connected to the first end of the telescopic wand assembly and provides fluid communication between the wand assembly and the dirt collection vessel and suction generator. The telescopic wand assembly is displaceable between a floor cleaning position wherein the second end of the wand assembly is held in the coupler and a specialty cleaning position wherein the second end is released from the coupler.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/615,777 filed on 4 Oct. 2004.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the floor care equipmentfield and, more particularly, to a floor cleaning apparatusincorporating a telescopic wand assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Upright vacuum cleaners have become increasingly popular over recentyears. An upright vacuum cleaner may be generally described ascomprising a canister assembly that is pivotally connected to a nozzleassembly. The canister assembly includes an operating handle that ismanipulated by the operator to move the vacuum cleaner back and forthacross the floor during the cleaning operation. The canister assemblyalso includes a dirt collection vessel, in the form of a dirt cup orfilter bag that traps dirt and debris. A suction generator, in the formof a motor driven fan, is provided on either the nozzle assembly or thecanister assembly. It is this suction generator that provides the dropin air pressure necessary to produce the desired cleaning action.

The nozzle assembly includes a suction inlet through which dirt anddebris is drawn into the vacuum cleaner by the suction generator. Inorder to provide more effective cleaning of the nap of rugs and carpets,most upright vacuum cleaners are also equipped with a rotary agitator.The rotary agitator is carried on the nozzle assembly and usuallyextends substantially across the full width of the suction inlet. Duringvacuum cleaner operation the rotary agitator beats dirt and debris fromthe nap of the underlying carpet. That dirt and debris is then drawn inan airstream through the suction inlet into the vacuum cleaner by thesuction generator. The dirt and debris becomes entrapped in the dirtcollection vessel and the suction generator then moves the clean airthrough the motor to provide cooling before exhausting that air backinto the environment.

While upright vacuum cleaners are generally useful and convenient forcleaning expansive areas of carpeting or flooring, it should beappreciated that the size of the nozzle assembly prevents the operatorfrom operating the vacuum cleaner in smaller spaces, such as in a cornerof the room adjacent heavy furniture where insufficient clearance existsfor the nozzle assembly. Further, the nozzle assembly of an uprightvacuum cleaner is not adapted to be utilized above the floor in, forexample, cleaning baseboards, window sills or the like.

Recognizing this shortcoming, many upright vacuum cleaners incorporate awand assembly that may be utilized to perform these specialty cleaningtasks. Some, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,867,833 to Duff,4,573,236 to Dyson and 6,374,453 to Kim allow the wand to also functionas the control handle for the upright vacuum cleaner. Advantageously,this reduces the overall weight of the upright vacuum cleaner andprovides a simpler and cleaner design. Unfortunately, however, thesedesigns all suffer from certain undesirable aspects. For example, thesuction inlet ends of the wand assemblies in the '833 and '236 patentsare provided at the control handle end that is manipulated by the userwhen the wand is secured to the vacuum cleaner in the upright vacuumcleaner or normal flooring cleaning mode. Many operators find itundesirable to hold the working or suction end of the wand assembly and,accordingly, this represents a significant design drawback. In the '453patent the wand must be removed from the vacuum cleaner and the hosemust be connected to the removed wand for purposes of specialtycleaning. This step of connecting the hose is an inconvenient andundesirable feature.

The present invention relates to a floor cleaning apparatusincorporating a combined handle and wand assembly that addresses andovercomes these shortcomings of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the purposes of the present invention as describedherein, an improved floor cleaning apparatus is provided. That floorcleaning apparatus includes a housing having a nozzle assembly and acanister assembly pivotally connected to that nozzle assembly. A suctiongenerator and dirt collection vessel are both carried on the housing.The apparatus also includes a telescopic wand assembly having a firstend equipped with an operator handle and a second end incorporating anairstream inlet. A wand assembly coupler is provided on the housing. Thewand assembly coupler receives and holds the second end of thetelescopic wand assembly. Further the apparatus includes a flexible hosethat is connected to the first end of the telescopic wand assembly andprovides fluid communication between the wand assembly and the dirtcollection vessel and suction generator.

The telescopic wand assembly is displaceable between a floor cleaningposition and a specialty cleaning position. In the floor cleaningposition the second end of the telescopic wand is held in the coupler.In the specialty cleaning position, the second end of the wand isreleased from the coupler and the suction inlet may be used with orwithout a cleaning attachment in order to draw air through the wandassembly and the dirt collection vessel toward the suction generator.

More specifically describing the invention, the telescopic wand assemblyincludes a first wand section and a second wand section to form atelescoping air path. A wand lock secures the first and second wandsections together in any one of a number of positions so as to allow theoperator to adjust the assembly to a desired length.

The nozzle assembly includes a suction inlet and carries at least onerotary agitator adjacent that suction inlet. The dirt collection vesselis a filter bag or alternatively a dirt cup. In one possible embodimentthe dirt cup is cylindrical in shape and includes a tangentiallydirected inlet in order to provide for cyclonic airflow. A first filtermay be provided in the dirt cup. A second filter may be provideddownstream from the suction generator.

In the following description there is shown and described a preferredembodiment of this invention, simply by way of illustration, of one ofthe modes best suited to carry out the invention. As it will berealized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments andits several details are capable of modification in various, obviousaspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, thedrawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature andnot as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawing incorporated in and forming a part of thisspecification, illustrates several aspects of the present invention, andtogether with the description serves to explain certain principles ofthe invention. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an upright vacuum cleaner constructed inaccordance with the teachings of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the wandassembly withdrawn from the canister assembly to allow for above floorcleaning; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a dirt cup of cylindrical construction including atangentially directed inlet and a centrally located filter so as toprovide for cyclonic airflow.

Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodimentof the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the present invention relates to an uprightvacuum cleaner 10 including a housing comprising both a nozzle assembly12 and a canister assembly 14. The canister assembly 14 is pivotallyconnected to the nozzle assembly 12. The upright vacuum cleaner 10 ridesover the floor surface being cleaned on wheels 15 carried on thehousing.

The nozzle assembly 12 includes a suction inlet 16. A rotary agitator 18carried on the nozzle assembly 12 is mounted in the suction inlet 16.The rotary agitator 18 includes bristle tufts 20, brushes, wipers or thelike to beat dirt and debris from the nap of an underlying carpet beingcleaned as the agitator 18 is rotated at high speeds with respect tothat carpet and the nozzle assembly 12.

The canister assembly 14 includes a dirt collection vessel 22 housed inan internal cavity 23. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 the dirtcollection vessel 22 is a filter bag of permeable filter materialadapted to entrap dirt and debris while allowing the passage of cleanair through the bag. In an alternative embodiment the dirt collectionvessel 22 may take the form of a dirt cup 24. As illustrated in FIG. 3,such a dirt cup 24 may include a cylindrical dirt collection chamber 26having a tangentially directed inlet 26 and an axial outlet 28. Such anarrangement promotes cyclonic airflow in the chamber 26 whichefficiently removes dirt and debris from the airstream in a manner wellknown in the art. A filter 30 may be concentrically mounted within thedirt collection chamber 26 over the outlet 28. Such a filter 30 stripsany remaining fine dirt and debris from the airstream as it movesthrough the filter toward the outlet 28.

The canister assembly 14 also includes a telescopic wand assemblygenerally designated by reference numeral 32. The wand assembly 32 maybe similar in design to that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,474 toOhara et al. The wand assembly 32 includes first and second telescopicwand sections 34, 36. The second wand section 36 is telescopinglyreceived in the first wand section 34. The wand sections 34 and 36 areconnected together by a wand lock, generally designated by referencenumeral 38, that is carried on the end of the section 34. A controlhandle 40 having a hand grip 42 is provided at a first end of the firstwand section 34 opposite the wand lock 38. The second end of the secondwand section 36 opposite the wand lock 38 is received in a coupler 44mounted to the rear of the canister assembly 14. A flexible hose 46extends from the first end of the wand assembly 32 adjacent the controlhandle 40 to the inlet 48 connected to the dirt collection vessel 22.

During standard floor cleaning operation, the wand assembly 32 issecured to the canister assembly 14 by means of the coupler 44. Thus,the wand assembly 32 functions as a handle by which the operator maymanipulate and direct the vacuum cleaner 10. In this mode of operation,the rotary agitator 18 scrubs and beats dirt and debris from the nap ofan underlying carpet being cleaned. A suction generator 50 carried onthe housing draws air entrained with that dirt and debris through thesuction inlet 16, the connector 44, the wand section 36, the wandsection 34, the control handle 40, the hose 46 and the inlet 48 into thedirt collection vessel 22. The dirt and debris is captured in the vessel22 while relatively clean air is drawn over the motor of the suctiongenerator 50 in order to provide cooling. That air is then exhaustedthrough a final filter 52 and returned to the environment through anexhaust port 54.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 the wand assembly 32 includes a second end thatis removable from the canister assembly 14 to allow manipulation andspecialty cleaning. More specifically, the distal end of the wandsection 36 is removable from the coupler 44. The telescopic sections 34,36 of the wand assembly 24 may then be retracted or extended as desiredto produce a wand of desired length. The wand assembly 32 is thenmanipulated by the operator through the control handle 40. In this modeof operation air including dirt and debris is drawn into the open distalend or airstream inlet 33 of the wand assembly 32. That air then travelsthrough the wand section 36, the wand section 34, the control handle 40,the hose 46 and the inlet 48 into the dirt collection vessel 22. Therethe dirt becomes trapped and clean air then passes over the motor of thesuction generator 50 before being exhausted through the final filter 52and exhaust port 54 into the environment.

It should be appreciated that in either mode of operation, the userengages the hand grip 42 in order to direct the cleaning operation.Further, there is no need to detach and then reattach the hose 46 whenchanging between operation modes as is necessary in some prior artequipment. Thus, user convenience is maximized.

The embodiment was chosen and described to provide the best illustrationof the principles of the invention and its practical application tothereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the inventionin various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited tothe particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variationsare within the scope of the invention as determined by the appendedclaims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they arefairly, legally and equitably entitled. The drawings and preferredembodiment do not and are not intended to limit the ordinary meaning ofthe claims and their fair and broad interpretation in any way.

1. A floor cleaning apparatus, comprising: a housing including a nozzleassembly and a canister assembly pivotally connected to said nozzleassembly; a suction generator carried on said housing; a dirt collectionvessel carried on said housing; a telescopic wand assembly having afirst end equipped with an operator handle and a second endincorporating an airstream inlet; a wand assembly coupler on saidhousing receiving and holding said second end of said telescopic wandassembly; and a flexible hose connected to said first end of saidtelescopic wand assembly and providing fluid communication between saidtelescopic wand assembly and said dirt collection vessel and suctiongenerator; wherein said telescopic wand assembly is displaceable betweena floor cleaning position wherein said second end of said telescopicwand assembly is held in said coupler and a specialty cleaning positionwherein said second end is released from said coupler.
 2. The floorcleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said telescopic wand assemblyincludes a first wand section and a second wand section forming atelescoping air path.
 3. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1,wherein said nozzle assembly includes a suction inlet and carries atleast one rotary agitator adjacent said suction inlet.
 4. The floorcleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said dirt collection vessel is afilter bag.
 5. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein saiddirt collection vessel is a dirt cup.
 6. The floor cleaning apparatus ofclaim 5, wherein said dirt cup is cylindrical in shape and includes atangentially directed inlet.
 7. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 2,further including a wand lock for securing said first wand sectiontogether with said second wand section.
 8. The floor cleaning apparatusof claim 7, wherein said nozzle assembly includes a suction inlet andcarries at least one rotary agitator adjacent said suction inlet.
 9. Thefloor cleaning apparatus of claim 8, wherein said dirt collection vesselis a filter bag.
 10. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 8, whereinsaid dirt collection vessel is a dirt cup.
 11. The floor cleaningapparatus of claim 10, wherein said dirt cup is cylindrical in shape andincludes a tangentially directed inlet.
 12. The floor cleaning apparatusof claim 6, further including a first filter in said dirt cup.
 13. Thefloor cleaning apparatus of claim 12, further including a second filterdownstream from said suction generator.